Blog note: this article references a 2015-16 Marin County Grand Jury report.
The Rotary Club of Terra Linda shone a spotlight on the topic of human trafficking on Saturday.
The service club, in partnership with Rotary District 5150, representing Marin County, San Francisco and San Mateo County, hosted a presentation on the hidden problem of human trafficking to a crowd of more than 60 people at the Marin County Office of Education.
“It’s about awareness,” said Laurel Botsford, the Rotary Club of Terra Linda member who organized the event. “We have to get the word out — get it out of the shadows — expose it to the light. That’s why trafficking has been able to flourish for so long. Nobody wanted to talk about it. It was too horrible to face.”
Details were laid out about the $150 billion human trafficking industry prevalent across major hubs across the nation, including the Bay Area and Marin. Out of 13 FBI-identified hot spots for human trafficking, four of those locales are in California — San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles and Sacramento.
“We have huge problem,” said Botsford, a trained volunteer with Ambassador of Hope, a nonprofit dedicated to ending sex trafficking. “We’re top on the list and the next highest state of Texas has half the amount of trafficking that we are involved with. Marin is a hub because of all the access that we have here — in and out very quickly through all of our highways and bridges, but also because of all the money we have here. It takes money and that attracts human traffickers.”
Botsford said there is no data on human trafficking activities across Marin, but the Marin County Coalition to End Human Trafficking began efforts last year to collect statistics. She said without data, organizations are unlikely to fetch funding to fight against the issue.
Trafficking, which includes labor and commercial sexual exploitation, has made victims of 40.3 million people worldwide, Botsford said. She said of those people, 68 percent are being trafficked for labor, with about 32 percent trafficked for sex. The most common recruitment age for victims of sexual trafficking is 12 to 14 years old for girls, and 11 to 13 years old for boys. Ninety-nine percent of buyers are men, with most between the ages of 18 and 89, Botsford said.
A 2015-16 Marin County Civil Grand Jury report on human trafficking said human sex trafficking is believed to be prevalent in Marin, but that it goes largely unrecognized, under-reported and is rarely subject to intervention. The report lists a handful of recommendations for fighting back against the trade, including ensuring all law enforcement agencies are consistently training officers in human trafficking protocol and that fire departments are training emergency personnel to recognize human trafficking and where victims can find help.
But presenters said advances are being made to fight against trafficking. Chief Deputy District Attorney Rosemary Slote, who also chairs the Marin County Coalition to End Human Trafficking, said the coalition, created in 2014 under the Marin County District Attorney’s Office, has been busy over the past year.
“They developed victim resources cards and they’ve distributed those to local hospitals and shelters,” she said. “They’ve partnered with local libraries to host forums on human trafficking.”
In response to the state Legislature passing Senate Bill 1193 and Assembly Bill 260, both which require select businesses to post information with resources for trafficking victims, coalition members hit the streets. The members visited hotels, massage parlors and other businesses with posters containing the required information.
Gov. Jerry Brown in October also signed Assembly Bill 1227, requiring public schools to educate middle and high school students on sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention.
For those wanting to combat human trafficking, Botsford said they should educate themselves on the topic and learn the signs to recognizing potential trafficking.
“It’s much less scary when you become informed and you find out what to watch for,” she said.
Russell Wilson, an Oakland-based researcher and consultant on human trafficking, also stressed the importance of recognizing the signs of human trafficking. The signs to watch out for can be found at humantraffickinghotline.org.
“We all come in contact with people on a regular basis out there,” he said. “Inevitably you’re going to run into somebody who’s probably being exploited. If you can recognize the signs, you might be able to make a difference.”
Brian Wo, co-founder of the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition, said boys need to realize that manhood is not validated “by making sexual conquests,” and that it is not appropriate to engage in sexual “locker room talk” about womens’ bodies.
“Ultimately there has to be an underlying cultural shift so we no longer think it’s okay to objectify women,” Wo said. “This is something, for any parents in the room, as we grow up our next generation of boys, I think we can nip this in the bud by the next generation and make a huge cultural shift.”
February 2, 2018
Marin Independent Journal
By Stephanie Weldy
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